WHAT CAN AMAZON AND ZAPPOS LEARN FROM EACH OTHER?

There is already a lot written about what
will happen to the culture of Zappos. Will it remain separate, will it be
integrated or will it be the ‘norm’ also for Amazon? I don’t know what will the
plan.

From a services point of view, it is also
very interesting to see what both companies can learn form each other.

Amazon

They have a fantastic website and from a
customers point of view it looks like everything is automated. That is fine, as
long as you don’t encounter any problems. Recently I did buy a video camera
from them with a tripod. It was until I get to the payment screen that it
became clear that they would not ship the tripod overseas. I have no idea why
that was the case. I went through a lot of hassle to disintegrate my order.
Parts which were okay to be shipped to the Netherlands had to be separated from
parts which were only shipped in the US. I really had a lot of problems with
this order, so I wanted to call customer service for some help. There was no
telephone number that I could find. I felt not being supported, I was only able
to talk to my Apple and that didn’t work.

So, it would be great if Amazon adds a
possibility to talk to a real human being. And it would be very nice to talk to
a customer service representative who is trained in the Zappos tradition. That
would really add a lot of value to my customer service experience.

Zappos

Zappos just recently started to ship there
products internationally. However the way they organized this is not attractive
at all. They add a huge amount to the price for shipping internationally and
the logistics are also a hassle.

What Zappos can learn from Amazon to
reallya worldwide delivery system
in place. Maybe they can even use the Amazon facilities abroad. Zappos will
then have the opportunity to become a real global phenomenon.

So, instead of looking at the downside of
this acquisition it is much more stimulating to look at their respective
strengths and what they can learn from each other. In that way the customers
will be the real winners.